1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image display system, and more particularly, to an image processor and a method of outputting an image signal corresponding to a display panel.
2. Background Art
In general, displays such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a plasma display panel (PDP) are used to display an image in a variety of fields such as televisions and computer monitors. Such a display receives horizontal synchronization signals (Hsync), vertical synchronization signals (Vsync), and image signals of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) from an image processor and displays an image.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a known display system.
Referring to FIG. 1, the known display system includes a video signal converting unit 110, an image processor 120, a display unit 130, a video reproducing unit 140, and a control unit 150. The display system may further include an input unit, an OSD (On Screen Display) processing unit, a power supply unit, and a tuner, but these elements are not related to the gist of the invention and thus will not be described.
The video signal converting unit 110 converts input analog video data into digital video data and outputs the digital video data.
The image processor 120 converts the digital video data converted by the video signal converting unit 110 to comply with an output standard (such as resolution, vertical frequency, and screen ratio) of the display unit 130 and inputs the converted digital video data to the display unit 130. The output standard with which the image processor 120 converts the digital video data is determined and fixed in advance.
The display unit 130 displays the digital video data input from the image processor 120 as visual information. The display unit 130 may include a memory for temporarily storing the digital video data to reproduce the digital video data.
The video reproducing unit 140 converts video data having a predetermined format (such as video data coded with MPEG-2 format and stored in a memory (not shown) or received through a communication module (not shown)) into digital video data which can be processed by the image processor 120 and inputs the converted digital video data to the image processor 120.
The control unit 150 controls operations of the elements of the display system. For example, the control unit 150 can control the image processor 120, the display unit 130, and the like to change a display state of an image displayed on the display unit 130 on the basis of predetermined variables.
As described above, in the known display system, information on the output standard (such as resolution) with which the digital video data should be output is fixedly determined by the image processor 120 or the control unit 150 in advance.
In this case, when it is not necessary to replace the display unit 130, for example, a display panel, the display system can be operated without particular problems.
However, when the display panel is replaced with a display panel having a new output standard (such as resolution) for the purpose of improvement of the display system, there is a limit that the new output standard cannot be automatically applied by the elements of the display system. Accordingly, when the display panel is replaced with a new one, a user should update a firmware of the image processor 120 or change the setting details of the control unit 150.